PORTSMOUTH — With only 10 weeks left before the U.S. Air Force announces where it will send new air refueling tankers, stakeholders in New Hampshire are throwing their support behind Pease Air National Guard Base.

U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Portsmouth Mayor Eric Spear and the commander of the New Hampshire Air National Guard were on hand at Pease Tuesday morning to discuss the merits of the base.

Pease is one of five guard bases being considered by the Air Force to house a new top-of-the-line refueling tanker being manufactured by Boeing. The base that's selected will receive 12 KC-46A tankers once they're available in 2017.

“That is the future of the tanker operation for the Air Force,” said Brigadier General Carolyn J. Protzmann, commander of the New Hampshire Air National Guard, “and so we would like ... to be able to take the tanker mission that we have been involved in since the early '70s here at Pease, and to be the showcase for this mission going on.”

With the guts of a Boeing 767 commercial airplane, the new KC-46A tanker will present a significant advancement over the existing fleet.

At a cost of $160 million apiece, the new planes will come equipped with worldwide navigation and communication systems, airlift capability and new “force protection” features. The more spacious design will also allow the base that receives the tanker to expand its mission, adding the ability to evacuate people and move cargo.

The Air Force considered a field of 83 guard bases before cutting the options down to five earlier this year.

“As we look into the future, it's going to be very important to see who gets those KC-46A tankers,” Shaheen said, “because as the general says, that's the future of refueling, and so we believe it's important to have some of them located here.”

The tankers would likely bring additional personnel to Pease, and also increase the scope of operations, Shaheen said.

Being selected would also be a good omen for the base in the face of anticipated cuts in defense spending down the road.

The Air Force is in the process of conducting on-site reviews at the five guard bases in contention for the aircraft. The other bases in the running are Forbes Air Guard Station in Kansas, Joint-Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, Pittsburgh International Airport Air Guard Station in Pennsylvania and Rickenbacker Air Guard Station in Ohio.

Pease was the third of five bases to be inspected. An Air Force “site activation task force team” visited Pease last week, arriving Sunday, Feb. 10, in the wake of a snow storm that dropped 2 feet of snow on the base.

Protzmann said the team witnessed the base's quick return to normal operations in spite of adverse weather. The team studied the base's infrastructure, size and proximity to operational paths and air refueling routes, Protzmann said. It also evaluated factors such as fuel distribution in the area, and the size of the runway.

At 11,321 feet, the runway at Pease is the longest in the Northeast, Protzmann said. Pease is also the only one of the five Air Guard bases on the shortlist for the new tanker that has already developed a merger of active duty and guard personnel.

Called an active association, the staffing at Pease consists of a combination of members of the 64th Air Refueling Squadron and the 157th Air Refueling Wing.

The squadron is part is headquartered at McConnell Air Force Base, but the group is currently assigned to work with the 157th. The combination pairs airlift and tanker units with existing guard and Air Force Reserve wings. This allows for shared operations and maintenance.

It also provides active duty personnel with access to aircraft. This is one of the Air Force's priorities in the basing criteria for the KC-46A, Protzmann said. Creating a new association at one of the other guard bases would cost an estimated $1.5 million, according to background information provided by personnel at Pease. Making use of the existing association at Pease would save the Air Force $15 million in personnel costs.

“We feel like we've done the best work on that, and I think the Air Force would agree that we have as well,” Protzmann said.

Some of base's other highlights are spelled out in a background paper prepared by New Hampshire Air Guard members. One of its primary advantages is proximity to operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Flying operational missions out of Pease would save about $1 million per year, compared to the cost of flying the planes out of the next-closest base on the list. Basing the planes at the most distant facility would be about $5.6 million more expensive per year, according to the background paper.

Pease is also the only base on the short list with access to a deep water port, railroad and major interstate.

The Air Force inspections will culminate in March, and a decision is expected by May 1. The decision process will include review from a board of colonels and the Air Force Chief of Staff, Protzmann said.